There will be 7 colleges representing London, all of whom have previous experience of attending the National Championships. This will be the second year that Barking and Dagenham’s rugby team takes part. Barnet and Southgate College see the return of their women’s football and volleyball teams, along with a couple of tennis players. Kingston College make up the rest of the tennis team, a cross country runner, a large proportion of the badminton team, with the addition of their men’s football team. The cross country team is larger than it previously has been with Leyton Sixth Form College sending 5 runners. They also qualified in the men’s volleyball and women’s basketball, and have students competing in the badminton and table tennis teams. After a year out, Hackney return in the men’s basketball, along with a student in the table tennis team. NewVIc return in the cricket and LD football competitions, as well as a couple of table tennis players while Sir George Monoux College complete the badminton and table tennis teams.

Last year’s result: 9th

Colleges representing the region in 2018: Barking and Dagenham College, Barnet and Southgate College, Kingston College, Leyton Sixth Form College, NewVIc, New City College and Sir George Monoux

Star athlete: Deji Thomas-Smith will be representing London as part of the tennis team. He is 17 years old and currently in his first year studying A-Levels at Barnet and Southgate College as part of the WimX Tennis performance pathway and also completing the LTA AASE scheme. He has been playing Tennis for 8½ years and joined the WimX Academy program when he was 12 years old, going onto the scholarship program a year later. During this time he made significant improvements each year which has seen him rise from a 6.2 to 1.2 LTA rating. He has gone from not being a county player to being ranked in the British top 10 for his year group the past two years.

In 2017 he won his first national event in Bath having been knocking on the door in previous competitions and also have played for Surrey Men’s 1st team in the prestigious LTA County Cup in the top division. Aged 15, he broke into British top 100 in all three age groups U16, U18 and Open where he remains today. Deji has more exciting times ahead, as he continues to work hard and improve with WimX and Barnet and Southgate College supporting him. He is also a TASS Athlete with Barnet and Southgate who hold the TASS Dual Career Accreditation.

One to watch: Having won silver in the men’s basketball in 2016, New City College – Hackney, are back in 2018 hoping to finish one better and take the gold medals. They topped their pool in the regional tournament, then comfortably won their semi-final before triumphing over Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College in the final. Captain, Jahmah Pitterson-Cunnigham, was also selected as the London men’s student team captain.

National Championships veterans: NewVIc’s LD football team will be returning to the National Championships once again this year. Qualifying to be the London representative for the 5th year on the trot. They won the silver medal in 2015 and just missed out on a bronze last year.